172: report

"A place higher than where dragons fly, further than the clouds..."

Sylvia repeated this sentence under her breath, her eyes that were once full of wisdom and reason now held only deep confusion.

She instinctively raised her head, her gaze passing through the skylight at the top of the Mage Tower, looking towards that clear, azure sky.

In the legends and myths of the Rocasia Kingdom and even the entire continent, the sky was the domain of wind elements and the playground of dragons.

And further up, through the Astral Wind Layer that mortals could not cross, was the Divine Realm where the gods resided.

If the young girl before her truly came from a place further than the clouds, wouldn't that mean... "Are you a messenger from the Divine Realm? Or perhaps..."

A True God descended to the world?

Sylvia's voice trembled slightly; she gripped her staff tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.

Although logic told her that a deity would not descend in such a strange manner, let alone browse books in this dusty library, the awe originating from the depths of her soul made her involuntarily think in that direction.

"Divine Realm?" Ilya stopped her movements; she was controlling several thick parchment scrolls to flip their pages automatically in the air. Hearing the term, she turned her head, a hint of helplessness and amusement flashing in her crimson eyes.

"For things they cannot understand, most people attribute them to miracles; this is a common ailment of intelligent beings, whether on Earth or here."

Ilya jumped down from the round stool, her silver-white mage robes swaying gently with her movements. She walked up to Sylvia and shook a finger.

"To correct you, I am not a god, nor do I believe in gods. I am a human, a scholar pursuing truth. As for my name..."

The young girl slightly raised her chin, showing the confidence and arrogance belonging to the strong.

"Remember it well, my name is Ilya von Klein."

"Lady... Ilya... von... Klein." Sylvia repeated the tongue-twisting name with difficulty; it clearly did not fit the naming conventions of the Rocassia people. "Then, where exactly is that distant place you mentioned?"

Ilya sighed and waved her hand. The nano-skin on her wrist split open, revealing a holographic projection device.

Buzz—

A soft blue light expanded between the two of them, constructing a miniature model of the universe.

"It seems I need to give you a basic astronomy lesson."

Ilya pointed at the giant spherical model floating in the air; it was Mana Star.

"First, you must understand that the land beneath your feet is not flat, nor is it a land on the back of a giant turtle. It is a sphere, just like the ball you played with as a child, suspended in the Void."

"This... the earth is round?" Sylvia's eyes widened. This theory was regarded as heresy in some academic schools.

"That's right, it's round. And the sun you see every day..." Ilya swiped her finger, and the model shrank, Mana Star becoming a small bead rotating around a central fireball. "That is a star, a massive plasma fireball undergoing intense thermonuclear reactions. It is over a million times larger than your planet."

"Now look at that." Ilya pointed to the giant gray-blue sphere next to Mana Star, which was the gas giant F-81-03. "The giant sphere you see above your head is actually a gas giant. It is incredibly massive, composed mainly of gas, with terrifying storms and gravity. And your planet is actually its moon, being captured by it and rotating around it."

"We are a moon?" Sylvia's worldview was collapsing.

"Yes. Stars, planets, and moons—these celestial bodies form a star system under the influence of gravity." Ilya expanded her hands outward, and the holographic projection instantly zoomed out, revealing a corner of the brilliant Milky Way's spiral arm.

"And such star systems are simply countless in the universe."

She extended her slender finger and pointed to an extremely tiny point of light at the edge of the Star Map, which was a full 81 light-years away from Mana Star.

"I come from there."

"That place is called the Solar System, and my home is called Earth."

"As for the distance..." Ilya paused and said in a way the other could hopefully understand, "Light, you know of it, right? Light is the fastest thing in the world. Even for light, it takes 81 years of continuous travel to get from my home to here."

"81 years..."

Sylvia was completely stunned.

For mortals, light was something that could illuminate the world in an instant, a synonym for 'instantaneous'.

If even light had to travel for 81 years, how distant was that? It was a chasm that mortals could not cross in any number of lifetimes.

"This... how is this possible..." Sylvia muttered to herself. "This does not fit the principles of magic. How can space be so vast? Is this the truth of the Astral Realm?"

She tried to use her inherent magical worldview to explain Ilya's discourse.

In her understanding, the 'universe' Ilya described might be the legendary 'Astral Realm' or 'Void', places where only the most powerful legendary mages could travel in spirit. And 'stars' were the cores of elemental planes, while 'planets' were planes floating in the Void.

As for 'light traveling for 81 years', that was probably a rhetorical device to describe the difference in the flow of time, just like the legend of 'a day in heaven is a year on earth'.

"It seems you are a Plane Traveler from a distant plane." Sylvia finally forced herself to accept an explanation she could live with, her eyes showing a hint more awe. "No wonder you possess the power to tame a Red Dragon."

Ilya looked at Sylvia's 'I get it' face, which actually showed she didn't understand at all, and rolled her eyes helplessly.

"Forget it, interpret it however you like."

She didn't bother to correct such a deep-seated difference in worldviews; after all, explaining relativity and astrophysics to someone at a medieval level was like playing a lute to a cow.

"Anyway, I need to stay in your tower for a while to read these books." Ilya pointed to the vast sea of books around them. "This will be very helpful for me to understand your world."

"It is our honor." Sylvia bowed respectfully. "I will give orders that no one is to disturb your peaceful study. However..."

She unfastened a Mithril Token engraved with the royal emblem from her waist and handed it to Ilya.

"This is a palace pass. If you have any special needs, you can take it directly to the palace to find me or His Majesty. In this country, this token can solve most mundane problems."

"Thanks." Ilya took the token casually, tossed it in her hand, and then stuffed it into her pocket.

"Then, I won't disturb you any further."

Sylvia took one last deep look at this mysterious silver-haired girl and turned to leave the Mage Tower, her heart full of questions and shock.

She needed to report to the King immediately. Everything she heard today was too sensational; the Rocasia Kingdom seemed to have welcomed an extraordinary guest... As the Mage Tower's gate closed, the noisy world was shut out.

Ilya stood quietly in the center of the empty hall, surrounded only by the rustling of pages.

"Navigator, take over the body."

" Command confirmation， streaming..."

The silver-haired girl's body shook slightly, and those lively crimson eyes instantly became dull and lifeless, turning into emotionless mechanical eyes.

The bionic robot entered automatic standby and data collection mode, beginning to scan and record every book in the tower with extremely high efficiency.

Meanwhile, inside the Wanderer, which was hovering above the royal city with its stealth field activated.

Psh—

Accompanied by the sound of air pressure being released, the lid of the Immersive Neural Connection Pod slowly slid open.

The real Dr. Ilya von Klein sat up from the pod filled with nutrient solution. She was soaking wet, her long silver hair clinging to her fair skin, outlining her petite frame.

"Phew... my own body feels better after all."

She took off the neural connection device on her head, casually shook the liquid from her hair, and then walked out of the connection room naked.

Several spherical robots immediately surrounded her, spraying warm cleaning air and drying air. In just a few seconds, they cleaned the nutrient solution from her body and handed her a set of dry, warm clothes and a cup of hot cocoa.

Ilya took the hot cocoa and took a big gulp, feeling the satisfaction of the sugar dissolving in her body.

She walked to the main console on the bridge, her fingers tapping rapidly on the holographic keyboard.

"Navigator, connect me to Director Raven."

"Understood, Dr. Ilya, transferring the call for you," the Navigator said without any emotional fluctuation.

A moment later, Lei Wen's image appeared on the screen. He seemed to be reviewing documents and put down his electronic pen upon seeing Ilya.

"How is it? Our explorer, are you having fun in the universe?" Lei Wen asked with a smile. "I heard from the Wanderer's ship AI that you took a Red Dragon as a pet as soon as you arrived on that habitable planet in the F-81 Star System?"

"You're quite well-informed." Ilya curled her lip and sat cross-legged on the commander's chair. "Don't even mention it. That dragon is just a giant lizard; it's useless except for breathing fire, and its IQ is pathetic."

"Let's talk business." Ilya's expression became serious. "I've already uploaded the preliminary inspection report for Mana Star, which is F-81-03A. You should have received it, right?"

"I'm looking at it." Lei Wen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the data terminal beside him. "The environment, ecology, and biological gene sequences are all highly similar to Earth's... This is indeed a startling discovery. It seems the Panspermia hypothesis has gained another piece of strong evidence."

"That's not even the main point." Ilya interrupted him, her eyes shining with excitement.

"The main point is magic, or rather, Psionics."

She pulled up the analysis data of the magic wand from the dragon's den, as well as various monitoring indicators from when Klaus Difan cast the Fireball Spell.

"Lei Wen, this is a civilization that truly possesses a supernatural power system. Although their technology is backward, they have formed a complete, logically self-consistent system for the use of special energy."

"They can guide spiritual power through specific sound wave frequencies and geometric patterns, thereby interfering with physical matter and achieving energy releases that violate the laws of thermodynamics."

"It's very interesting, isn't it?" Ilya licked her lips. "If I could learn magic, even if it's just conjuring a fireball, that would be so much fun."

Lei Wen looked at Ilya's eager expression and smiled helplessly, but then his expression turned serious.

"Ilya, your discovery is very valuable, but as for the application of magic..."

Lei Wen pondered for a moment and said slowly:

"I'm afraid we Earth humans cannot learn it."

"Why?" Ilya asked indignantly. "Since the principles can be analyzed, why can't it be replicated?"

"Because the hardware doesn't support it."

Lei Wen explained, "According to the records about Psionics in the Faleim People's database, combined with our research on our own genes and the blood orchid, the use of Psionics requires a specific physiological basis. That is, there must be some kind of organ or circuit in the brain capable of sensing and interfering with high-dimensional energy."

"Some intelligent races I know of have it (like the Angel people and the Iof People), and the humans on Mana Star clearly have it too, though the proportion is very low."

"But for we Earth humans, unfortunately, that fragment is missing from our genes. We are creatures evolved from a purely materialistic universe; our brains should be insulated from Psionics."

"Even if you memorize all the incantations and draw the most perfect magic circles, if you don't have that psionic organ to drive them, you're just doing radio exercises and doodling."

Ilya was stunned; she looked down at her hands, somewhat disappointed.

"You mean I can't become a magical girl?"

"Unless you perform gene modification on yourself, or..." Lei Wen pointed to his head, "use technological means to simulate it."

"But Ilya, I must remind you," Lei Wen's tone became solemn, "I do not want Human Civilization to delve too deeply into the field of Psionics at this stage."

"Why? Isn't it a very powerful force?"

"Because it's uncontrollable and inefficient," Lei Wen pointed out incisively. "From the data you collected, it can be inferred that a mage needs decades of meditation and practice to release a large fireball, whereas we only need to pull a trigger to launch a much more powerful missile. The cost of training one mage is enough to equip a whole company of Power Armor soldiers."

"Furthermore, Psionics is extremely dependent on talent and personal will, which leads to the solidification of social classes and unpredictable variables."

"Just look at the current state of the Angel Empire. Over-reliance on spiritual power eventually led to the stagnation of material technology and the decay of divine authority."

"The path of the Human Federation is technology, industrialization, and standardization."

Lei Wen said firmly.

"The path we want to take is one where everyone is like a dragon, rather than concentrating great power in individuals."

"For us, magic can only serve as a supplement and reference for some of our technologies."

"We study it and analyze it to understand the essence of the universe, not to become charlatans."

After listening to Lei Wen's words, Ilya remained silent for a long time.

Although she was a playful genius, she was essentially a pure, rational scientist. She quickly understood Lei Wen's concerns and strategic vision.

"You're right."

Ilya sighed and put her legs down.

"Magic really isn't all that great. I still prefer machines where entering a command always yields a result."

"However," she changed the subject, "that doesn't stop me from continuing to study it, right? After all, one must know oneself and one's enemy."

"Of course." Lei Wen laughed.

"Just don't forget that you are a human scientist, not the principal of Hogwarts."

"Tch, who wants to be a principal?" Ilya rolled her eyes. "Since humans can't learn magic, I'll just turn magic into science!"},{

"Just you wait, Lei Wen. Maybe one day I'll build a machine that can mass-produce Forbidden Spells, and show those so-called mages what industrialized magic looks like!"